The episode before the climactic battle, the one that will set all the wheel in motion and usher us in to the final bout. What terrors does this episode bring for us, what mind numbing horror shall be wrought upon the shinobi world? A simple game of ping-pong and a friendly chat in a hot tub, that’s what. Ok ok, there was more to it than that, but in the grand scheme of things that was what this episode achieved. So was this episode any good with that ping pong and hot tub chat? Well let’s find out.

Synopsis

As the shinobi close in on the newly detected Youma gate, they arrive at a hot spring hotel only to find Fubuki is also attending. While there, Fubuki’s origins and motives are exposed to all. Her mother was sealed away and unable to return to this world, and as long as the shinobi exist, Fubuki will never stop until she has her revenge. While this is going on, the strains of Asuka’s new Youma sealing technique are starting to take their toll, and Kagura meets Fubuki to defeat her once and for all. However as Yumi draws closer to the fighting pair, determined to end this with no bloodshed, kagura concedes and allows her attacker to win. With the fate of the world resting in Yumi’s hands, the Youma portal opens, and Fubuki smiles as her revenge can finally come to fruition.

Yes please Fubuki don’t go! I need more exposition dumps!

What I Liked

The episode was pretty slow-paced and frankly did plod along a bit, but I do appreciate another slower episode as we near the intense and action packed finale. The scene between Yumi and Fubuki while they both lie there in the hot tub was a great scene that helped set up Yumi and Fubuki’s relationship and them both recounting their history together was a nice scene. It does set up her eventual redemption which will inevitably happen, but it does so in a subtle way that does tease that she won’t be redeemed, but it does seem highly likely based on her dialogue and the way she holds herself around Yumi. The more laid back approach this episode had also did help to balance the more serious content. The fight between Fubuki and Kagura was also pretty good, it was short but did present some creative powers and decent animation, but we’re getting to THAT little poorly animated chestnut soon. Seeing Asuka return to her normal self while still retaining her newer and more solemn mentalities is a great display of development for her and her willingness to die for her friends really does raise the tension even though it is unlikely she will actually die given the style of story this franchise has. The ping-pong match was also a fun distraction but it was ultimately short-lived. I also like Fubuki’s Youma form, it was quite a small alteration to her look but just enough to add to her dread. Overall I can’t really find much with the episode, but it was a pretty decent episode that was ultimately lacking in much profound content, it was just kinda average.

That look when you see that last slice of pizza.

What I Didn’t Like

*inhales* Ok, so there was a few moments in this episode that were particularly well, especially with the fight between Kagura and Fubuki. However, this episode had some of the most noticeable animation quirks of all the episodes. It had a frame that was frankly so visually distracting that it bugged me for the rest of the episode, and it was seven minutes in too so it went on for a long time. This episode also lacked in terms of decent pacing with the episode shifting between comedic and calm to wildly serious at the flip of a switch. I know I did say I appreciated the balance of light-hearted and serious content, I do feel the pacing was lacking and it honestly did jar in quite a few places. The episode was honestly so ‘meh’ that there’s nothing else to really critique it about. The animation was a definite negative against it and it was beyond distracting.

Oh my lord, girls are you ok? Is something wrong, what happened to your faces?

Final Thoughts

Overall, this episode delivered in some places, but faltered in others. It had decent exposition and some really good personal scenes between characters. But I do feel this episode served mainly to set up Fubuki’s redemption above all else and everything else was made for padding, at it is pretty noticeable if you look into it. The animation was incredibly up and down and was mainly dipping into the ‘down’. I can’t think of anything else to say really, it was just so painfully average and slowly paced that it lacked any real impact.

Asuka is a good bean, she must be protected at all costs!

Score: 7/10

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